


Give Me a Sign

by bfcas



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2018-01-24
Packaged: 2019-01-30 05:34:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12647127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bfcas/pseuds/bfcas
Summary: Beca is invited to the Beale household for Spring Break and tries her hardest to make a good impression on everybody, even if Chloe isn't her girlfriend. Not that that meant anything. At all.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here's a new story that I stayed up all night writing because who needs sleep when you have fictional relationships to write? 
> 
> I apologise in advance because I don't actually know any sign language, so this is all based on internet research and imagination. 
> 
> Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this little cute oneshot and let me know if you want more of this version of Bechloe because I'll write those two any which way.

“Chloe, I just need you to listen to this one chorus and tell me if it sounds like shi-“ Beca called out as she walked into Chloe’s bedroom unannounced, just as she always did. Usually, Chloe would be listening to music or in bed or at her dresser putting on make up but today she was sat cross legged on her bed in front of her laptop. 

Beca stopped her sentence dead in her tracks as she saw Chloe was waving to somebody on screen. As Beca looked a little closer from across the room, she saw a young boy on screen with red hair and slightly too big ears waving back. It was Ewan, Chloe’s brother. Beca had seen him before in pictures and heard Chloe talk about him in passing but she had never met him in person before. 

It seemed that Chloe hadn’t heard Beca come in nor seen her where she was sat with her back to the doorway, so Beca chose to lean on the doorframe and just watch for a while and wait until Chloe had finished before dragging her upstairs to her computer to listen to a potential arrangement. 

As Beca watched, she was slightly confused by the scene. Chloe wasn’t talking to her brother or vice versa, but instead they were both moving their hands wildly with animated facial expressions. It took Beca a while but she figured out eventually they were signing to one another. She watched on in fascination. She didn’t know that Ewan was deaf or that Chloe could speak sign language, but it was just another reason to make the redheaded girl infinitely more intriguing to Beca. 

Her thought track was interrupted by Chloe’s voice sounding out again, making Beca refocus on the source of said voice. Chloe’s mom was on screen now and the two were chatting away. Beca just about caught the end of the conversation. 

“Yes, I will, I’ll talk to her.”

“You best do as I say lady.”

“I will! I’ll ask her, I promise.”

“Okay then baby. I’ll speak to you soon?’

“Sooner than you think. Love you Mom.”

“Love you too Chlo.”

They waved at each other and Chloe shut the lid of her laptop. Beca uncrossed her arms and stood from the doorframe, taking a step into the room.

“Ask who what?” She asked as she reached the middle of the room. Chloe jumped and span around, hand on her heart and a wide eyed look of surprise on her face. Her features softened at the realisation it was Beca who was laughing down at her, rolling her eyes at the younger girl finding her own joke far too funny. Chloe plugged her laptop onto charge and shuffled around on the bed to make a space for Beca at the foot of the bed where she often liked to lie. The second it was clear, Beca did just that, sprawling across the bottom end of the bed and picking up a cushion to lean on. Chloe sat at the other end of the bed, legs outstretched until her toes were just resting on Beca’s stomach. 

“Okay, I’m going to ask you something, but you can’t say no until you’ve heard what it is. Deal?” Chloe said, poking her big toes into Beca’s ribs playfully. Beca swatted her away with a faux scowl.

“Can’t agree with that. What if it’s some awful team building thing or a karaoke retreat or being Aubrey’s slave for a year?” Beca joked, a grin sneaking onto her features as Chloe stared at her unimpressed. Chloe waited until she was satisfied Beca was done before she sighed deeply in preparation. 

“It’s just my Mom wants to know if you want to come with us to our beach house in Florida for spring break. I know you aren’t doing anything because your Dad’s away and she said I could bring a friend and she asked who my best friend was and so I obviously said you and so she insisted and-“ 

“Woah, hold up.” Beca interrupted, grabbing Chloe’s leg with one hand as she tried to process the jumbled sentences Chloe had sped through. “Say it again. Slowly.”

Chloe took a breath, dropping her gaze to her lap where her fingers were fiddling with the hem of her t shirt. “Do you want to come with me to Florida for spring break?” She looked up and shook her head. “You can totally say no, I know you don’t like families.”

Beca didn’t say no. Or yes. She didn’t say anything. Just looked at Chloe and how she chewed her lip in anticipation of Beca’s answer. It was tough. She would love to spend Spring Break with Chloe, seeing as she was her best friend and she was a little bit in love with her (not that Beca would ever admit that to anyone else or herself for that matter) but with her family too? She didn’t know if she could cope with the whole family setting, seeing as she had never had enough time to get used to it as a kid.

Could she do family dinner time and trips to the beach and game nights? With strangers no less? For a whole week? It all sounded like a bit of a nightmare scenario to Beca, if she was being honest. 

But then she looked up into the wide blue eyes of Chloe, who was still looking at her in anticipation, and realised that she could and would do anything for Chloe Beale. Plus, at the very least, it was a free week in a beach house in Florida, Beca reasoned.

“Sure. Sounds good.” Beca shrugged, feigning indifference to Chloe’s offer, even if her brain was doing flips and already trying to think of excuses as to why she couldn’t accept hugs for longer than three seconds, preempting the inevitable cuddly nature of Chloe’s mom. 

Chloe smiled, clearly not expecting Beca to say yes quite so easily. “Cool. I’ll text Mom later. She’ll be excited to finally meet you.” Chloe said as she shuffled down the bed, spinning so she lay down with her head on Beca’s stomach, the red hair fanning over the black material of Beca’s t shirt. Instantly, Beca picked up one of the wayward strands and began to fuss over it absentmindedly as they lay in silence listening to music, both just thinking of how Spring Break would play out. 

………

It was a long two weeks of waiting for Beca, as Chloe didn’t really bring up Spring Break again apart from letting her friend know they’d drive down on the Friday afternoon in Chloe’s old Toyota. That only added fuel to Beca’s anxious fire; Chloe’s car was ancient and Beca wasn’t overly sure if it would make it back to Florida and back in one piece. Add that to the fact that she was about to meet her best friends family for the first time and desperately wanted to make a good impression for reasons that she would not admit to herself still and Beca was nervously stalking Facebook profiles and private investigating the shit out of the Beale family. 

One thing she did in preparation was take an online intensive course in sign language seeing as she had learnt that Ewan, Chloe’s younger brother, was deaf. Nothing too impressive but she had learnt how to say the basics and was just hoping that it was enough to make the younger boy feel like she had made an effort- something she had never done when meeting anyone else family. She didn’t even know that Jesse had a brother until she had been introduced at Jesse’s birthday party. 

Friday afternoon eventually arrived and Beca was nervously fiddling with the cheat sheet of ASL in her jacket pocket whilst her other hand clutched Chloe’s car keys. Her suitcase was packed with the best clothes she could find- well the cleanest ones from her bedroom floor- and the box of chocolates she was bringing as a ’thanks for letting me stay’ gift were sat ready in her rucksack along with her laptop. 

Her nervous thoughts were temporarily derailed as she heard the front door shut and the sound of singing follow it. She turned and couldn’t help the small smile that spread across her face at the sight of Chloe Beale in the hoody she had stolen from her the other week, her hair messily put up so it would be out of her face for driving. Chloe reached the side of the car and smiled over to Beca as she saw Beca was already smiling. 

“You ready to go?” She asked as she handed Beca a travel mug full of coffee and the other half to a cookie she was already eating. Beca took it with a nod of finality. No turning back now. 

The two girls clambered into the car and had a mini argument about the music situation; Chloe wanting musicals and all things cheesy pop and Beca wanting some obscure underground EDM she had heard on a pirate radio station. They agreed on an indie playlist Beca had saved, knowing there wasn’t going to be a winner in this argument seeing as both girls were as stubborn as the other. 

The drive was a good one, seeing as they managed to miraculously miss the Friday traffic on the main roads. With each passing hour getting closer to the house, Beca felt her palms get a little sweatier with nerves. Maybe this whole family Spring Break was going to be too much, she worried. Was it a mistake? What if they didn’t like her? 

But then Chloe would nudge her leg with her free hand and smile at her and Beca would feel the worries disintegrate. Chloe liked her and that was all that mattered to Beca. 

It was late evening when they finally pulled up to the beach house on the Tampa shoreline and the first thing that struck Beca was how beautiful it was. Bigger than any house she’d ever set foot in, let alone lived in, it sat a hundred yards away from the beach a driveway big enough to host three cars easily. Beca knew that Chloe’s parents must’ve been pretty well off considering their daughter had been through an extra year of college on top of the four normal ones but this house was something else. They must be loaded. 

Chloe turned off the ignition and sighed, turning to Beca. 

“You ready?” She grinned, the excitement of seeing her family spilling over into her words. Beca swallowed hard before looking past Chloe to the house once again, knowing there were three strangers she had to make a good first impression on inside. She felt like she was meeting the parents of a partner, not just her friend. But she had never been this nervous when she met any of her past boyfriend’s parents- in fact, she had never even really cared at all. But now she was nervously bouncing her leg and picking at the skin on her thumb as she stared up at the house.

She stopped and looked back when she felt a warm hand cover her cold ones. 

“Beca, you’ll be fine. They’re gonna love you like I love you.” Chloe reassured her with a wink. Beca nodded dumbly, her ears ringing with the last three words, trying desperately to settle her heart rate before she got out of the car. After a final squeeze from Chloe’s hand, Beca nodded again more confidently. She took a deep breath of preparation and looked over to Chloe.

“Let’s do it. Before I change my mind.”

“Okay.” Chloe laughed, letting go of Beca’s hand to collect her various things from the car and to unbuckle her seatbelt. “Oh, one last thing. My mom has no concept of personal space, so just make sure you lock every door.” She got out with a teasing grin before she opened the door and exited the car, leaving a wide eyed confused Beca.

“Hey, wait!” Beca yelled into the empty car when she realised what Chloe had just said, scrabbling with the door handle and all but falling out of the car. She went to ask Chloe more about the personal space invasion but when she stood up and looked around, she saw Chloe was already halfway up the long driveway with her arms open wide. Beca closed the door and looked up to the house to see two figures in the light of the doorway, waving furiously at Chloe as she ran up the drive. 

Beca recognised them from her Facebook stalking to be Roger and Karen Beale, Chloe’s parents. She tucked her hair back behind her ear and straightened her clothes to try and make herself look presentable after having being in a car for six and a half hours. She probably still looked like shit, she thought, but still walked slowly up the driveway to the door.

She stopped about five metres from the front door, hovering awkwardly back from the hugging and kissing parents, waiting for Chloe to introduce her. She watched with a smile as Chloe was bundled in affection from her parents, with various “missed you”s and “love you”s being smothered in between. After a little while, Chloe extracted herself from the hugs with a giggle and stepped back to reach for Beca’s hand. 

“And this is-“

“No need. This is the famous Beca Mitchell I guess?” Chloe’s father asked with a raised eyebrow. Beca smiled weakly under his stern look before nodding, not noticing how Chloe was still holding her cold hand. 

“Uh, yes sir, I’m Beca. Pleasure to meet you.” Beca held out the hand not being held by Chloe out in front of her, cringing at how it was trembling slightly. What did even have to be nervous about? 

Roger looked at her with a stern glare for another second, not taking her outstretched hand and Beca could feel the vomit rising. But then he laughed loudly, the two other Beales laughing too. He ignored her hand and swept Beca into a hug, wrapping his arms tightly around her shoulders. Beca grunted as the tight hug knocked the breath she was holding out of her but she relaxed knowing that she was accepted by the now not-so-scary father of Chloe Beale. 

She just about got another breath in after he released her before another pair of arms had wrapped around her and Chloe’s mom was hugging her. 

“It’s so great to meet you finally Beca.” Karen said into her ear from the hug. She pulled away, keeping her hands on Beca’s arms as she smiled at her. She smiled exactly the same as Chloe, except there were smile lines etched by her eyes and her eyes were less of an electric blue, and Beca felt the familiarity start to seep into her heart, making her feel a lot less nervous. “Chloe talks about you all the time. You’re nowhere near as short as she said you were.” 

Beca laughed at that, looking over to Chloe with a questioning look. 

“I did not say that!” Chloe defended herself, shaking her head as she followed her parents and Beca into the house, her mom’s arm still wrapped around her friend to guide her inside. 

That theme carried on for a while- Chloe’s parents and Beca laughing and talking about Chloe as she just tried her best to defend herself when it mattered and prevent anything too embarrassing from coming out. Beca didn’t know what she was so worried about- obviously the two parents of the physical embodiment of sunshine that was Chloe would be equally as nice. They were so easy to talk to and apparently Chloe had told them a lot more than she thought, as they seemed to know pretty much every detail in her life. They asked her questions about her mixes and her family and the Bellas, all whilst they smiled and offered her coffee and homemade brownies, which Beca gratefully took. 

This week was going to be so much easier than she originally thought, if this was what it was going to be but with more trips to the beach and delicious food in between. 

Beca was just settling in, content to just listen to Chloe catching up with her parents for a while, when Roger smiled widely just past Beca’s head. He waved his hand at the mysterious figure and it made both Chloe and Beca turn to see Ewan Beale quietly enter the room, dressed in his pyjamas and a dressing gown. 

Chloe sprang up, running across the room to swoop her eight year old brother in a hug, pressing kisses to his face as he giggled and squirmed. Beca stayed put on the sofa with Chloe’s mom, just watching as Chloe put Ewan down and began to sign her hello’s to him. Beca watched their hands carefully, understanding bits and pieces from what she had learnt online, her heart skipping a little as she saw Chloe sign out her name before turning to her with a smile. 

Beca stood and walked over to the pair, feeling all four sets of blue eyes on her as she crouched down in front of Ewan and took a prepatory breath. Beca heard Chloe begin to say something about how she would translate but her sentence trailed off as Beca waved to Ewan.

“Hi, my name is Beca. I’m Chloe’s friend.” Beca signed slowly and clumsily, her tongue poking out in concentration. Ewan smiled at her and waved back. 

“Hi, I’m Ewan. Are you Chloe’s girlfriend?” He signed back quicker than Beca had, meaning she got a bit confused as to exactly what he was saying. Thinking he was just asking if she was Chloe’s best friend, she nodded with a smile. Chloe laughed from behind her, making Beca look over her shoulder.

“What? What did I say? Am I doing this right?” Beca asked worried that she’d said something ridiculous. Chloe just shook her head with a smile and Beca was sure she saw her eyes glazed over with tears. Beca just turned back to the little boy, finding him far less intimidating than the three adults in the room. 

“I’m sorry, I don’t speak sign language very well.” Beca gestured, ending with a shrug. “I’m pleased to meet you Ewan.” She finished, dropping her hands down with a finality. She could feel the blush creeping onto her cheeks and she felt pretty stupid for a millisecond, thinking and panicking that she should have learnt a few more introductions. 

Suddenly, she was knocked out of her thoughts quite literally by the force of an eight year old throwing himself at her and wrapping his arms round her neck in a hug. Beca wrapped her arms back around him and felt relief flood through her for the second time that evening, safe in the knowledge that she had made a good first impression on all of the Beales. She pulled away with a smile. 

“Tomorrow we’re going to the beach, do you want to go swimming with me?” Ewan signed, slowing it down and exaggerating now he knew Beca was a beginner. Of course the brother of Chloe Beale was a total sweetheart as well, Beca thought- it must be a strong sunshine family gene pool. Beca laughed and nodded, understanding the question.

“Yes, tomorrow. I’m too tired now.” Beca signed, making Ewan laugh as she stuttered for a moment on the last bit, choosing to do an exaggerated yawn to show what she meant. Ewan nodded, signing a “Me too.” to Beca.

“Yes, it’s time for you to go back to bed.” Beca head Karen say from behind her. Beca stood and moved out of the way, watching as Karen quickly told her son to say goodnight to Beca before she took him back to bed. Ewan turned to Beca, who was stood next to Chloe- her natural default for the next week she thought- and waved.

“Goodnight Beca. See you tomorrow, nice to meet you.” He signed to her with a big smile, showing the gap in his teeth. Beca laughed, signing back a “Goodnight” before the little boy was led away back to bed by his mom. 

“I think we’re going to turn in too girls.” Roger announced as he stood from his chair. Chloe and Beca turned to him and nodded with a smile, Chloe moving forward to hug her dad again. “Besides, got to get up at 5am to get the best spot, right?” He said to Beca, who felt her stomach drop. 

5am?! There was no way she was getting up before seven, regardless of whose house she was in. 

“I- uhh- I mean…” Beca stuttered, not quite knowing how to tell him that that was not happening. To her relief, he laughed and shook his head.

“Just messing with you, we’re not getting up before nine on a Saturday, you kidding me?” Roger clapped Beca on the shoulder with a laugh, as she nervously laughed along. She had to get used to Mr. Beale’s jokes quickly or risk several heart attacks. “You girls going to be alright getting your bags and settling and stuff?” He asked.

“We’ll be fine Dad, no worries.” Chloe nodded. 

“Cool, well you’re both in your old room if that’s okay?” Roger asked as he walked towards the stairs his wife had just gone up. Chloe pushed him playfully so he began his descent up the stairs.

“Yes yes yes, we’ll be fine old man.” Chloe laughed, stopping her pushing as she felt her dad climb the stairs himself. They joked at each other for a second, leaving Beca stood in the living room to laugh at them. 

“Night Mr. Beale, nice to meet you!” Beca called out, hearing him yell back a goodnight in reply. Beca chuckled to herself as she heard the ongoing squabble between father and daughter go up the stairs. This week was going to be a good one, she could feel it. They were just all so damn nice- how were a family of humans all so damn nice?

Beca decided to busy herself by picking up Chloe’s car keys and walking out to the car to get the bags from the trunk. She hauled out the two suitcases onto the gravel and was just getting her rucksack when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist from behind. 

“Ah! Shit dude, you made me jump!” Beca exclaimed, trying her best to sound angry but failing miserably due to the fact that Chloe was hugging her tightly from behind, her nose buried in the back of Beca’s hair. After ten or so seconds and Chloe still hadn’t let go, so Beca rolled her eyes and just lifted her rucksack out of the trunk regardless. She shut the trunk and locked the car, fumbling all the while because that was a hell of a lot harder when you had a clingy redhead attached to you- who’d have thought it? 

“Right, are you going to stop the koala impression and help me take these bags in, or…?” Beca joked, turning her head slightly to rest on Chloe’s. She felt Chloe laugh into her hair and for a moment she thought about how ridiculous they must look- stood wrapped up in each other by an ancient Toyota Prius and laughing into the midnight Florida air. 

Chloe let go of her and even though they were in the middle of Florida, the air felt instantly chilly with the loss. She stood in front of Beca and just smiled. 

“What?” Beca asked nervously as she looked incredulously at Chloe, who was still leaning against her car and smiling softly at Beca. Beca dropped the bags and crossed her arms with a sigh. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I don’t know why Aubrey doesn’t like you.” Chloe shrugged. Beca laughed and walked over to Chloe so she was stood in front of her.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Beca replied, brows furrowing in confusion. 

“She’s dead set that you’re this emotionless rebellious teenager who cares for no one but herself.” Chloe explained, still staring at Beca with those bright cerulean eyes that Beca couldn’t help but stare back at. 

“I really hope this is going somewhere because otherwise this is kind of shitting on my self esteem a bit Chlo.” Beca joked, kicking Chloe lightly on the ankle. Chloe laughed under her breath, still looking at her. 

“I don’t understand how she doesn’t get how sweet you are. And great. And kind.” Chloe listed with a quiet tone that Beca had to step closer to hear over the Floridian waves- or at least that’s the excuse she gave in her mind. “I don’t know why she doesn’t see what I see.”

Beca stayed quiet, just smiling at her feet to avoid Chloe’s intense stare. She didn’t quite know where this was going but she could feel her heart in her throat regardless and she didn’t want to open her mouth in case her heart was too close to the surface and started revealing all the feelings she harboured for the redhead over the last few years. 

“Did you learn sign language just for my brother?” She heard Chloe ask quietly. Beca waited a second before lifting her head to nod at her friend. She saw Chloe take a breath in and felt her shakily exhale with a smile. She licked her lips and Beca’s gaze flickered there temporarily before moving back up to those bright blue eyes again. 

“I wanted to make a good impression on your family, I don’t know.” Beca stumbled, kicking the gravel of the driveway with the toe of her shoe for something to do. “It’s not even that great, I only know a tiny bit.”

“Hey Beca.” Chloe said, making Beca look up from the dirt to her best friend. Chloe pointed at herself, brought her fists into her chest gently and then held out her outstretched palm to Beca. It was obvious she’d just signed something but Beca was only a beginner and was lost.

“I, uh, I don’t know what you said. I’m really a beginner, I don’t know much.” Beca shook her head with a shrug, a lost look on her face. Chloe laughed under her breath then smiled at her friend. There was a moment that Beca could see an argument in her eyes but before Beca could ask what was wrong, Chloe leant in and pressed a light kiss to her lips. 

Beca froze and felt her heart stop yet again. She didn’t even have the time to kiss back and just stood dumbly slack jawed as Chloe retreated back to lean on the car again. 

“Don’t worry,” Chloe murmured. “I can teach you.”

Beca closed her mouth and swallowed, finding it hard to do around her heart that was still lodged in her throat. 

“I think I got that one now.” Beca nodded, taking a step forward to close the remaining space between them. She brought one hand up to Chloe’s face and watched her face just to check that she had got it right but Chloe told her non verbally by pulling Beca the rest of the way gently with a hand at the back of her head. 

They kissed on the driveway for a minute or so, taking time to just feel what they had both been wanting for months and months, lips moving gently and hands holding securely just to make sure the other was real. 

They separated eventually, but kept their foreheads together as they caught their breath again. Beca couldn’t help it though as she leant forward to press small kisses all over Chloe’s face: on the bridge of her nose, right by her left eye, twice on the small scar on her forehead. 

“You know earlier, my brother asked if you were my girlfriend.” Chloe murmured before leaning to press another lingering kiss to Beca’s lips, smiling as she felt Beca laugh into the kiss. “And you said yes.” Chloe poked Beca in the side teasingly, making Beca flinch as she laughed again.

“Well,” Beca wrapped her arms around Chloe’s waist as she leant towards her. “You know I hate lying to kids.” Beca hinted, looking fearfully at Chloe as what she’d just insinuated dawned on her. Chloe just smiled and cocked her head as she brought her arms to loop around Beca’s neck.

“Are you asking me-?” Chloe began to ask before she was cut off by Beca kissing her soundly.

“Yeah, I am. If you want me to be?” Beca said, her grip tightening on Chloe’s waist. 

Chloe nodded.

They both leant forward then, meeting in the middle for a long and loving kiss that was slightly damp and messy from the tears coming from Chloe’s eyes and the wide grin Beca had on her face. They carried on kissing for a while, long after the tears had stopped, just the sound of the ocean behind them and bags strewn about around their feet. It wasn’t what Beca had imagined from this Spring Break trip but it was better than anything she had imagined beforehand. 

Who knew that an intensive crash course in sign language would’ve finally gotten her the girl of her dreams? If Beca knew how to sign “Fuck yeah, I’m kissing Chloe Beale.” she would’ve done. Oh well, she’d just get Chloe to teach her later.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, surprise! After a short hiatus from fic writing as I worked and did essays and blah blah blah, I am back. And as I caught up with all my notifications, I realised that people really wanted a follow up to the first chapter of this little story.
> 
> So, considering I loved writing the first one- mostly due to the Beale family- I thought what better way to get back into things than with another little chapter of this tale?
> 
> As always, please leave your always appreciated feedback below and maybe some love if you're feeling particularly generous :) 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Beca stared long and hard at the faces before her, her eyebrows drawn as she scanned over the rows. Then her eyes flicked up to the face above those, meeting a mischievous grin that was missing a few teeth. She narrowed her eyes in order to try and read the bright blue eyes across from her.

 

She took in a long breath as she made her decision. Then she sat up straight.

 

“Has he got a beard?” Beca signed, making the little boy across from her giggle as she didn’t sign beard quite right. He understood though and brought his hands up to reply, “No. No beard.”

 

Beca deflated a little with an annoyed sigh as she flicked down the four bearded men on her side of the Guess Who? board. She was so bad at this game. Either that or Ewan, Chloe’s _ten year old_ brother was incredible. But Beca doubted that, what with him being ten and all.

 

Ewan looked across to her, his hands tapping on his knobbly knees as he tilted his head to the side to try and read any signals Beca may have been putting out to try and garner just who she had picked for her character. He was determined to make it five wins in a row because then Beca had promised she would buy him a hot chocolate from the small cafe down the road when she walked the dog with him after lunch.

 

Beca put on a neutral face, raising an eyebrow as he smiled knowingly.

 

“Has she got blue eyes?” He signed, that same knowing smile growing into a wide grin as Beca threw her hands in the air exasperatedly.

 

“Yes!” Beca shouted, before signing a somewhat aggressive yes back to Ewan, who laughed as he flicked down ten or so of his cards.

 

“This is ridiculous.” Beca muttered from behind her hand, prompting a laugh to come from the doorway to the kitchen as Karen walked in, drying her hands on a hand towel that she slung over her shoulder after doing so.

 

“He’s really got you beat Becs.” Karen chuckled as she saw the full board on Beca’s half as opposed to the nearly empty half of Ewan’s side.

 

“I know. It’s a conspiracy.” Beca crossed her arms as she looked up to the older woman, a scowl beginning to play on her features that made Karen laugh again. Beca looked over to Ewan. “How are you so good at this game?” She spoke out loud whilst signing it for her opponent. He shrugged with a grin.

 

“Maybe you’re bad. Or maybe I really want hot chocolate.” He giggled as he responded with his hands. Beca rolled her eyes, just about catching his tack on question of, “Can I have marshmallows too?”

 

Karen laughed, reaching down to ruffle her sons hair before making her way back to the kitchen, calling over her shoulder that lunch would be about ten minutes, a fact that Beca translated for Ewan after a moment of thinking.

 

“Does he have a hat?” Beca signed, pausing for breath as Ewan checked his card. She couldn’t help the shout of exasperation that came from her when Ewan simply shook his head.

 

As she was silently seething, flipping down three hat wearing characters, the front door opened and the chattering of two voices filtered into the living room where Beca and Ewan were sat.

 

“Karen?!” Came the booming voice of Roger Beale as he stood in the front porch.

 

“Yes, dear?!” His wife called back from the kitchen and Beca couldn’t help but laugh under her breath at how Ewan didn’t even flinch at the volume of it, instead looking up and asking Beca if her character had blonde hair, to which she smugly replied no. Her smugness didn’t last long, however, as Ewan still managed to tack down seven or so of his remaining cards, leaving him with a handful as opposed to her 20.

 

“Where is the old boot brush?!” Roger shouted. “That damn cat from next door has been at it again. I tell you, next time I’m putting it in their mailbox.”

 

“Well, you just-“ Karen started but was interrupted by Roger again.

 

“Aha! Never mind honey, found it!” He called triumphantly, making Beca laugh at the whole exchange. She couldn’t help the bark of laughter that escaped her when Karen ran through the living room, rubber gloves dripping soapy water across the carpet in her haste as she dashed across.

 

“No, don’t use the boot brush! Go outside you idiot!” Beca heard Karen shout at him, only imagining the way she would be pushing the man and his inevitably stinky boots out onto the front step. Beca laughed and shook her head before noticing Ewan looking across at her with a puzzled smile on his face.

 

“What’s happening?” He asked, gesturing to where his mother had just dashed into. Beca grinned, knowing he would like the answer.

 

“Your Dad stepped in poop.” She signed. And instantly Ewan laughed, out loud, falling back onto the carpet as he rolled around in fits of giggles. It was so rare to hear noise of this volume from the young boy that the sound made Beca laugh straight back, propping herself up on her hands as she leant back with a chuckle.

 

“What’s so funny in here?” Beca heard from the doorway, making her turn her head to see the source of the noise.

 

Chloe walked in, her arms full of logs she had spent the morning collecting with her Dad. She dropped them carefully into the bucket by the fire before coming over to stand behind Beca, who was still looking up at her.

 

“Dad stood in poop.” Ewan signed, still giggling as he sat up. Chloe laughed back, one of her hands coming up to tuck a loose strand of hair behind Beca’s ear. The hand stayed in her hair, playing with the straightened brunette locks whilst trying it’s best to not mess it up.

 

Beca smiled at the affectionate touches to her hair, before looking away from Chloe back to her little brother who had stopped laughing to look at Beca expectantly. Right, it was her go, right. Wasn’t her fault that Chloe had walked in, all rosy cheeked and snowflakes in her red hair and make up free face smiling relaxedly at her and distracted her from this nightmare guessing game that she was inevitably going to lose.

 

“Uhhh, does he... Umm...” Beca scanned the remaining faces on her board, hands poised to ask the question when she had decided on what said question would be. She took in a breath to ask if they had glasses but was interrupted by Chloe talking from above her.

 

“Hey, Bec?” She mumbled, obviously trying not to move her mouth too much with the way the plosive sound of Beca’s name was lost, meaning she was trying to not let Ewan see she was talking. Beca played along, not reacting to the question apart from a hum of acknowledgment that she knew Ewan wouldn’t see.

 

“Ask if they’re bald.” Was the redhead’s mumbled response. Beca held in the eyebrow raise in lieu of looking up and signing that exact question to Ewan- whose face fell a little in disappointment as he nodded. Beca hadn’t got a single question right since they started playing the game an hour ago.

 

Chloe sat down next to Beca, crossing her legs before leaning into Beca’s side, resting her head on Beca’s shoulder briefly in affection. Then she sat up and turned her attention back to the game. Beca didn’t however, she was still too busy looking adoringly at the girl sat next to her, her eyes moving from rogue strands of red hair coming from her braid to her slightly dry from the cold lips to the minuscule droplets of melted snow in her long eyelashes. She stopped however when she felt something hit her on the side of the head.

 

“Hey!” She yelped, a hand flying up to her temple where the object had made contact. She looked in her lap, seeing a spare card from Guess Who? there before looking up to an impatient Ewan Beale looking at her. 

 

Oh right, the game.

 

“Does she have glasses?” Ewan asked, chewing on his bottom lip as he thought about his strategy in the way his older sister did whenever she was thinking about something. Beca shook her head, trying to fight the smile that was threatening to find it’s way into her face.

 

She was winning. She could feel it. She was going to win. And maybe it was a bit ridiculous for a 23 year old adult to be excited to win a game of Guess Who? against a 10 year old child but this was personal. This was Ewan Beale, reigning champion of any and every board game in the Beale household vs Beca Mitchell, his arch nemesis due to her being the champion of the Mitchell household coming to snatch his victory after two years of knowing him.

 

“Has he got green eyes?” Beca signed, the competitive edge in the stare between the two opponents sharp enough to cut the palpable confrontational tension in the air. Ewan stared her out for a few seconds and it was honestly nearly enough to make her squirm, the intensity in his blue eyes mirroring his sisters the other night when Beca had worn her favourite socks without asking. Except Beca couldn’t apologise to Ewan with a kiss; she just had to stare right back, the infamous Mitchell right eyebrow quirking up as he bought his hand up and moved it up and down once. “Yes.”

 

Beca let out a god damn squeal of excitement as she flicked down card after card smugly until she was left with just one. Victory was so close she could taste it.

 

“Ladies and gentlemen, be prepared to meet the new Beale board game champion.” Beca gloated, grinning broadly as she turned to Chloe who just rolled her eyes with a laugh.

 

“You’re not even a Beale.” Chloe argued, jabbing Beca in the ribs to wipe the smirk from her face.

 

“Yet.” Beca smiled, leaning forward and pressing a quick kiss to Chloe’s cheek, the skin warm under her lips from Beca’s simple one word comment. She turned back to Ewan, who had that knowing smile back on his little face and Beca felt her stomach drop.

 

It all but fell out of her ass when he bought his hands up and asked her one final question.

 

“Is it Jen?” He finished, dropping his hands to his lap and grinning toothily at her. Beca’s mouth dropped open.

 

“Wha- How? I just- **How**?!” She spluttered, her hands just flailing- and that was sign language in itself for Ewan. Sign language for “I literally do not understand what has just happened here.” And it made the little boy laugh loudly again.

 

“Did you tell him?!” Beca turned to Chloe, her question smattered with a mix of betrayal and annoyance. Chloe held her hands up, eyes wide in innocence.

 

“I’ve been still the whole time!” Chloe protested. Beca scowled for another half second but knew from the way that Chloe’s lip hadn’t quirked up that she wasn’t lying. So, she turned back to Ewan and scowled at him instead, only to be met with a wider grin and his arms raised above his head in victory.

 

Beca picked up the little card with the blonde character on and threw it at Ewan, just as he had done to her minutes ago, before crossing her arms in a temper tantrum that Chloe couldn’t help but shove her playfully with a laugh for.

 

“You cheated!” Beca signed, Chloe correcting her slightly after hearing her speak the words out loud. Beca thanked her quickly before continuing. “I don’t know how, but you cheated!” She accused.

 

Ewan jumped up from his spot, grin still firmly in place as he ran round the board and threw himself on Beca, who just remained stoic- arms still crossed and scowl still in place as he swung off her like she was a jungle gym.

 

This carried on for a minute or so, Ewan clambering over her, messing up her hair, poking her face, all to try and get her to break her grumpy facade. He finally broke her by blowing a long raspberry on her cheek that made her laugh despite herself. After seeing her laugh, he repeated the action only to be tackled playfully to the ground by both Chloe and Beca, who were tag teaming him with tickling and raspberries of their own. The little boy laughed loudly as his sister and honorary sister tickled him, calling out for his Dad and Mum in broken sentences.

 

Both of whom had been stood in the room the whole time, watching their kids and Beca, who basically was their kid at this point; she made herself such a part of their little family since meeting them that summer in their beach house in Florida. She and Chloe had begun dating that summer and so the Beale’s had seen more and more of her over the last two and a half years, watching as the two girls went through milestone after milestone together, all whilst beaming at each other’s sides. From their victory at World’s, to graduation, to moving into their Brooklyn apartment together, right up to Beca proposing the week before last, Roger and Karen Beale couldn’t be happier for the two of them.

 

Beca was so good for Chloe, her level headedness keeping Chloe’s reckless optimism in check and her snarky sense of humour matching Chloe’s flirtatious nature perfectly. She was clever and talented and kind in ways that may not be immediately noticed, (like how she always brought flowers when she visited, no matter how many times she came to visit or how she had devoted endless hours learning ASL so she could hang out with Ewan without needing a translator) but the Beales had come to know that and love her all the more for it, accepting her as one of their own. 

 

“Okay, my bunch of pro wrestlers,” Karen interrupted, clapping and waving her hands to gain the attention of all three of her children. They broke apart, all still breathless with laughter and smiles on all of their faces. “The match can continue after lunch and you two” She gestured to Beca and Ewan. “Taking Sam for a walk.”

 

Ewan sprang up at that, arms still hooked around Beca’s neck, jostling her quite spectacularly.

 

“Yes! Beca is going to buy me hot chocolate!” He signed to his parents with a grin before turning his face to Beca. “Because _I_ won.”

 

Beca rolled her eyes and shoved him playfully from her lap onto the floor, making him laugh as he hit it with a thud.

 

“Well, how about,” Roger said, making all the others look up to him. “We all go out for hot chocolate?” He smiled warmly. All the girls and Ewan instantly grinned and agreed, knowing hot chocolate also meant cake, even if they did have to trudge through the snow to get it.

 

“Great. Thanks Beca in advance for paying.” Roger grinned, clapping Beca on the shoulder as he had the first time he had met her. Beca whipped her head round to look up at the tall man, a confused look replacing the smile that had been there.

 

“Huh? Why am I paying?” She asked, confused as to how that had happened. Roger shrugged before Karen supplied the answer for him.

 

“You should have never challenged the Beale board game champ. Cmon Beca, you should know that by now.” She chuckled, signing the sentence as she said it before running her hands through Ewan’s short red hair as he leant against her.

 

“Right, lunch!” Karen announced, the two boys racing each other to the kitchen, arguing about who would get the end piece of bread. Karen followed them, laughing at their antics, and Beca went to follow until she felt a tug at her sleeve that prevented her from doing so.

 

She turned around to see Chloe standing smiling at her. Instantly, Beca reached out and placed her hands on Chloe’s hips, whilst Chloe’s came to wind around her neck as she pulled her closer.

 

“You really haven’t learnt not to challenge him yet, have you?” Chloe shook her head with a smile as she asked Beca. “I gave up years ago.”

 

“I’m nearly there. Just got to find my game.” Beca winked, making Chloe laugh softly. Chloe moved a rogue strand of hair from Beca’s face behind her ear, her fingers caressing Beca’s cheek as they moved back. The touch gave Beca’s hands an electric shock into action and before she could even register what she was doing, she was pulling Chloe gently into her to kiss her lightly. But then Chloe’s hand was cupping her face and kissing her more solidly.

 

A couple of seconds passed before they broke apart and then they were staring at each other with soft smiles on their faces.

 

“Girls! Soup’s going cold! Save that smooching for later!” Karen called out from the kitchen, breaking the moment as Chloe groaned in embarrassment and Beca laughed before calling out “Just coming Mrs B!”

 

Beca ducked forward, stealing a last kiss from Chloe’s lips before going to step away. She was stopped by Chloe grabbing her hand, making her look back to her girlfriend- wait, no, _fiancée_.

 

“Hey Becs?” Chloe said quietly. Beca hummed a response and watched as Chloe let go of her hands. She brought one up, pointing to the centre of her chest, then brought both her fists to the same spot before holding out her outstretched palm in the space between them.

 

Beca smiled, remnants of midnight Florida air in her memory as she stood looking at Chloe, still as beautiful as she had been all that time ago. Only this time, it wasn’t confusion that gripped Beca but a wave of love and affection for the redhead that spilled over in the form of her grabbing the outstretched palm and pressing a kiss to it before entangling their fingers together.

 

“I love you too, weirdo.” Beca said, leaning in to press a final kiss against the curve of Chloe’s smile. Then she finally stepped away, the fingers tangled in Chloe’s pulling her with a laugh towards the kitchen.

 

“Now come on, I need to challenge your brother to Hungry Hippos before we go out. I think I could take him with that.” Beca said determinedly as they walked into the kitchen.

 

“Sure honey.” Chloe patted Beca’s arm patronisingly before releasing her fiancées hand to help her mother carry the stack of bowls to the table.

 

Beca just scowled as she sat next to Roger, ignoring the way the Beale’s all laughed at her pout.

 

She’d show them when they played Monopoly after dinner. They’d all see then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who is interested, I started a Tumblr where I'm going to post little drabbles and answer any prompts and yada yada. Check it out at pitchslappedasheck.tumblr.com if you fancy :)
> 
> Thanks as always!


End file.
